Caught In the Fire
by umizi
Summary: Kato Izuko, a student at the Raira-Raijin complex, only desires for the same thing everybody else does - to not get caught in the daily conflict between Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo. Yet, family honor matters more than personal dwellings, and so Izuko finds herself unwillingly thrown into the fire. IzayaxOCxShizuo, High School AU
1. Prologue

Raijin was like the road nobody traveled.

At least, it was to us – the students of the Raira complex. It was an unsaid fact that we thought we were superior. It wasn't false – surely, we were the ones that paid to learn there, and we were the ones that put our overworked brains to test during the entrance exam. To us, the Raijin students were just the normal ones – the typical city students that didn't care about their future.

You don't notice it, but there's gossip flying about the hallways of the complex every day. The Raira students certainly thought themselves superior, as most of this heresy had focused on the misadventures of the Raijin students. That kid did this to that kid, he did that to her, they did this, we did that…

It certainly wore me out after a while.

The worst part about housing both schools in the same building was the fights that went on every day. They would start in the schoolyard of the Raijin side, and slowly make its way over to Raira, breaking windows and smashing doors. They were alarming at first and worked everybody into a panic. But after a week or so, it became a fact of life and everybody had learned how to tune it out.

The fights were interesting, I have to admit. Sure, seeing the reaction of everybody – initially, it was fear, now it was just an eye-rolling annoyance – was fun, and seeing the damage done afterwards – surprisingly inhuman – was also rather intriguing, but the two perpetrators were the most amusing to watch. One couldn't even tell why they were fighting – clearly, they hated each other to the death, but their fights never started over an argument. It always started with one of them suddenly provoking the other, and it went on until they decided that they were bored. The rest of the students suddenly changed their path every time they walked by them, and I must admit that I did too, but I couldn't help but watch curiously.

Their names were Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo. Just from hearing their names, you realize how strange they were – just from looking at their names on the roster, it took me a while to be able to comprehend _"Izaya"_ as a name, and _Heiwajima_ is as uncharacteristic of the boy as calling a gun a weapon of peace would be. Then again, my own name isn't too ordinary either – Kato Izuko; Kato as in _wisteria, _something that should have been my first name. Izuko is a geisha's name, so archaic that it took my homeroom teacher a few seconds longer than normal to be able to read it. But names never say much about the person that grew underneath it, did they?

Izaya seemed like the perfect student, however. He had dark hair and eyes, pale skin, and was tall and slim. He was studious in his works and kept his uniform buttoned neatly and ironed. He spoke formally, even when provoking Shizuo, and was handsome, but that didn't really help much. His parents were wealthy – I remember meeting them at countless auctions and purposely steering clear of their odd son. If so, why wasn't he here, but instead at Raijin? Clearly, he himself could get better than that.

I later learned that his parents enrolled him there because they wanted to save money so that they could send him overseas for college; a good choice, because everyone wanted him as far away from them as possible.

I don't know much about Shizuo at all. He seems like a senior, and not a sophomore, which is odd, because he's younger than I, who was a junior. He has this inhuman strength, clearly seen from his flinging tables and breaking walls. Even so, one can't see that through his physical body – during physical education with the sophomores, I notice that Shizuo doesn't have much notable muscle – sure, he was a lot more athletic than the other boys, but he wasn't one of those body trainer-types. It makes me wonder how he gets that strength. Maybe he takes substances? He's clearly the delinquent, considering his bad rap for throwing furniture and that blond hair of his. I never really bothered looking too closely at him for fear he might take it the wrong way.

So that's how I lived my life – in slight intimidation, in slight awe. Everything else went smoothly – I had my group of friends, my stereotypically insane best friend, and my kind and loving boyfriend. In a world like this where everybody is selfish and cares only for themselves, it seemed as if I was pretty set.

I wanted to stay that way.

It was all fine until I got the phone call that plunged me head-first into the fight.


	2. Chapter 1: Gala

Watanabe Benjirou was a sweet guy, no matter what the other girls said, but he was incredibly awkward. Perhaps it was his long, floppy brown hair, and those liquid eyes that were slightly reminiscent of a puppy. It made me pity him and love him at the same time. Some days, he would be making (adorably terrible) jokes, and other days, he would stray from the crowd and stare off into space. This was one of the days; walking home from school, an uncomfortably cool breeze hanging in the air, and Benjirou and I, walking down the street going home from school.

"So, Kato," Benjirou tried to make conversation with me, but I was only hoping for a phone call or something to break the silence.

"Mm," I hummed in response, combing my hand through my hair. The wind was harsh today, and it left strands of black hair tangled through my fingers. "Is there anything wrong, Watanabe-kun?"

Benjirou was about to respond before a series of sharp rings cut him off. He looked disappointed, but I secretly thanked whatever being was up there and picked up my phone. It was my turn to be interrupted, because before I could even ask _"Hello?" _my mother thought it was fit to burst into one of her long lectures.

"_Are you there, Izuko? Hurry home! Why are you always so late these days? I bet you're doing something with that boy of yours – never mind, come home quickly! Your father and I received a new shipment and we have an auction tonight! I expect you to present yourself nicely there, young lady!" _

And with that, my mother simply hung up and left me standing in the winter chill, trying to comprehend what she just said. Without even fully understanding the gist of her words, I said goodbye to Benjirou and ran in the perpendicular direction, towards home.

My mother and father were art and instrument dealers, and because of that, they were extremely old fashioned. My mother would sit around, folding pieces of art from feudal Japan, in her kimono, and she would constantly scold me for my non-traditional ways. This brought my family a lot of money, however, but it was all spent on more art and more instruments. They got invited to tons of parties and galas, but this was one of the few times they would invite me. I knew exactly why.

They were looking for somebody to hold an arranged marriage with.

Clearly, they didn't like Benjirou, even though his family was of decent upraising. The only other boy who could possibly be a candidate was Orihara Izaya – how I loathed that name. I shuddered to even think about spending the rest of my life with him and that flick blade he always kept on his side. Why his family was even rich and successful was a complete mystery to me.

These thoughts still echoed through my head as I stared at myself in the mirror – my mother was incredibly old-fashioned, yet she dressed me in a black dress that was more western than anything else in my closet. I wondered where her tastes lingered, or what her motives even were. My grey eyes were judging myself in the mirror; an older, more frightening woman reflected itself in the glass. These only added to my initial problems, and soon, I found myself caught in a frenzy of worrying that landed me in the glass and marble ballroom of the auction.

I tried to hide in the corner, while my mother and father were happily – no, greedily – selling art and probably intoxicated on the amount of money they were earning. I resigned myself to sipping small amount of Coca-Cola over the rest of the night, but before I could even down the first glass, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned to meet a pair of dark – in fact, red, a sanguine kind of red that shouldn't be natural – eyes.

It seems to be that Orihara Izaya had found me first.

"You are Kato Izuko, am I right?" He grinned, expecting some reaction out of me, it seems. With no Shizuo to be chased by, I bet that Izaya was incredibly bored and tried to turn me into his Shizuo. It was surprising that he knew my name, even though we've never met. Then again, his parents probably mentioned me and he knew of me the same way I knew of him.

"I am," I replied, keeping the gaze with him steady, "I'm not surprised that you know either. What are you, some information broker? I'm sure you are." That was meant to be a completely sarcastic statement, but it seemed to be that my companion took it seriously – or not. Orihara Izaya was extremely hard to read.

"I'd like to be," the lights in his eyes danced mischievously. Was it just my eyes playing tricks, or was it truly a distinctive character trait? The boy was far less enigmatic up close, and yet, he seemed to stare through my soul. Dressed in a black suit, neatly ironed, Izaya certainly seemed like the proper heir to his family's money, but during the fights at Raijin, he's anything but. "You're the girl that my parents want me to marry -"

"I have a boyfriend."

"I know – Watanabe Benjirou? I don't know what you see in him, honestly-"

"I'd rather marry him than you."

"It's customary of a Raira girl to say something like that-"

"Please stop talking to me. I'm sure you only want to marry me for whatever inheritance that my parents leave. They probably won't leave any, considering they're just going to spend all that money on themselves."

"Do you think I'll be happy being married to the daughter of an arts dealer?"

I slammed my glass on the table.

"Get out of my sight! Gosh, this is the first time I speak to you in person and you make me want to kill you, probably like how Heiwajima Shizuo does too!"

"You're the one who's talking to me," Izaya doesn't change his expression, but his voice softens, "and my relationship with Shizuo is off-topic."

It was a challenge to get him to shut up for the rest of the night.


	3. Chapter 2: The Forte

It seems as if the complex finally had a crackdown.

Our homeroom teacher stopped everybody in the middle of lunchtime and slammed his fist on the kanji-covered chalkboard. I could read parts of the smudged lines –_ Raira-Raijin…remedial group_?

"Hey!" Tanazuki Reiko, my best friend, jumped out of her seat – something typical of her, as she was the class representative. "What's the meaning of this? We worked hard to earn our place in Raira, and now we have to waste our potential on those…those…those other students? They don't deserve it!"

"Tanazuki, sit down," Sensei responded firmly, "we feel that there's too much tension between the two divisions, so in order to repair relationships and create a more peaceful environment, I've nominated students in each class to be part of the program." The entire classroom erupted into protest, but he hit his fist on the desk and everybody was silent.

"Class rep, you're on the list."

"Karisawa Erika," the girl with the odd dialect stood up, smiling enigmatically.

"Kida Masaomi," from the back of the room, the gold-haired delinquent staggered out of his seat. He might look like part of the Raijin students, but the witty intellect he spoke with said otherwise.

"Watanabe Benjirou," flashing a smile at me, he stood up.

"Oh…we're missing somebody," the teacher looked around the room, and everybody sunk into their seats, not wanting to be picked. I avoided eye-contact with him.

"Kato Izuko."

Damn.

* * *

So the five student from class 3-B stood outside the hallway, right next to 3-A, which held another set of five students. It was the most foreboding feeling, having to deal with Raijin students. If Masaomi was already rebellious and irritating, who could imagine what the Raijin students were like?

The principal walked out and led the Raira students into a room where we all sat down around a circular table. He pulled out ten portfolios out of a cabinet and set them down on a table.

"Here are the profiles of all the students you can work with. Please pick quickly."

Everybody dashed for the folders and left me out of the circle for a few minutes. Reiko was the first one to pull out and showed me her profile.

"I get Himura Akira! She's been my rival since elementary school. Now I can show her who's boss!" Reiko exclaimed, and skipped out of the room.

Everybody left, except for Benjirou and I – there were two folders left on the table.

"Your pick, Kato," he smiled, and I was suddenly grateful for his chivalry.

The folders seemed to be opened and closed many times, but whatever was in there was so repulsive that nobody would want them. I had a feeling I knew who they were, and I mentally cursed myself for letting the teacher pick me.

The first one I opened was none other than Orihara Izaya. I glanced at his profile, weighing the consequences, and slammed it shut. It was certainly not worth it. That meant the other folder belonged to a certain rival of his.

Heiwajima Shizuo.

He apparently had brown hair before, according to his picture – but whatever the case is, he must be a lot better than Izaya could ever be, so I tucked his portfolio under my arm and slid the other one across the table to Benjirou. Sure, Izaya knew who he was, and might do something with Benjirou to ruin my life, but I didn't think about that at that time.

Surely, avoiding Izaya was the best I could do right now.

Hey, hey. What strings of time could be so cruel as to tie me to Raijin's most notorious students in just a short span of time? What were they trying to do to me - karma must have frowned down on my content life and forced me to have some sort of problem to deal with. That must be it - karma and fate are working together and trying to ruin my life. Or perhaps Izaya's trying to ruin my life - does he really hate me that much? I'm sure he would go as far as to kill me just to get out of an arranged marriage.

Looking at the folder in my hand, I couldn't help but think about what I could do to get Shizuo to kill Izaya as soon as possible. Surely, that couldn't hurt.

Stepping out of the office, I saw the two Raijin students, leaning against the wall, and trying extremely hard not to hit each other. Izaya smirked upon seeing me, and I quickly broke off eye-contact with him.

"Heiwajima-san," I muttered, not really sure what to do with the name. The brunette-dyed-blonde nodded and staggered off, keeping a steady eye on me. It was the first time I've seen him not in action, and it startled me to see just how normal he was. He walked a short distance behind me, but the only thing I could think of was whether or not he would snap my neck in the next second.

"My name's Kato Izuko. I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself earlier. I'm not on good terms with Orihara-san, I'm afraid," I kept my back turned. I didn't dare look at the delinquent behind me - perhaps even having eye-contact with him would spur on his rage.

"You know who I am, I guess," he drawled, so much that it was difficult to tell what he was saying. I didn't dare ask him to repeat it. "So you hate the flea too? That damn bastard..."

"I'm surprised you haven't gotten around to killing him yet. Surely, with the strength to throw chairs and all, it shouldn't be too difficult to just snap Orihara-san's neck in two?"

"It's much more complicated than that, that flea..."


	4. Chapter 3: The Flip Side

I had hoped to avoid the Raijin duo for the better half of the week, all while listening to Reiko rage about how she had avenged Akira for all the times that the latter had bullied her throughout elementary and middle school. She also questioned me as to why I had chose Heiwajima Shizuo as a partner but I only shrugged my shoulders and replied with, "he was the only one left." There was no need for Reiko to find out my connection to Izaya - Benjirou had also noted many times that Izaya was an incredibly odd person.

"Hey, Kato," Benjirou said to me when we were going home that day, "tomorrow's the first remedial meeting. I'm not looking forward to it too much, though. I mean, Orihara-kun's a sophmore and all, but he's rather...intimidating, I must admit. I told you, the first thing he said to me when I introduced myself was 'I know who you are. You're Watanabe Benjirou, five feet seven, in class 3-B and part of the soccer team. You're also dating Kato Izuko, who certainly seems like she doesn't care much about you.'"

"Th-that's not true!" I retorted, "that kid...he has no respect for his upperclassmen, doesn't he? Heiwajima-kun's much more quiet, but I don't dare say anything to him. It seems like even the slightest mention of anything - from that adorable rookie actor Hanejima Yuuhei, to the bakery nearby - basically even the most innocent of topics send him into rage."

"You know, Kato," Benjirou noted, "I wonder if Orihara-kun's annoyance or Heiwajima-kun's temper was the cause of this whole remedial thing. The others are there just to make the thing less suspicious - it's down to us to stop it all!"

"Watanabe-kun, you're making us seem like heroes."

"If we were heroes, maybe your parents would finally approve of me."

* * *

After school, the remedial group sat in the principal's office for about twenty minutes, but nobody ever showed up to direct us. Perhaps the principal himself was too scared of Shizuo and Izaya - that was certainly a possibility. During that span of time, I had learned that Erika's partner (and best friend), senior Yumasaki Walker, wasn't that bad of a guy. He took the examination to be accepted into Raira and missed by a point. What a shame.

"Hey now! I'm the class rep of 3-B and since Mr. Principal isn't here, I'll be leading you all today!" When Reiko saw the rows of expectant eyes gazing at her, some annoyed, some murderous, she suddenly wilted and sat back down.

"Just hang around and talk about your problems," she muttered defeatedly, and sulked further into her seat, much to the amusement of Hirasawa Akira, the rebellious redhead who had cut her skirt 2 cm shorter than normal. At her words, everybody shuffled out of the classroom and spilled out into the hallway, going every which way. Benjirou cast me a knowing glance before walking out, Izaya strolling out at his heels.

Heiwajima stood up, knocking the chair backwards, and walked out, so I figured he had expected me to follow him. He seemed to be containing some sort of pure hatred - it must've been being in the same room as Izaya for so long. When I got to the hallway, however, he had disappeared. I only saw Izaya chatting excitedly to Benjirou, who seemed a little uncomfortable. Izaya probably noticed it, but did nothing to show it.

"Watanabe-kun," I directed the question toward my boyfriend, and not the sophmore next to him, "did you see where Heiwajima-kun went?"  
After Benjirou pointed me in a certain direction, I walked off, hearing Izaya say to him, "See, Watanabe-sempai? Your girlfriend's starting to pay more attention to younger men now! She's moving on, I'm afraid." I did nothing to stop his banter, yet it certainly did affect me, unconsciously forcing me to grit my teeth and clench my fist, I stormed off towards the direction I was advised to go.

"Hey, Heiwajima-kun!" I called out, but he only gave me a short backwards glance before turning back. I followed him and we eventually relocated to the roof of the complex. He plopped down, shaking the fence that guarded students from the edge, and refused to face me.

"Oi, Izuko-"

"You have no respect for honorifics, don't you?"

"Izuko-sempai," Shizuo corrected, "you're probably mad at me for making me chase you around the school, aren't you?"

"I'm not-"

"Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Have you heard that statement before? I'm sure you have."

"Wha-"

"You can hate someone so much that you become obsessed with them. You find out everything there is to know about them, just to bring them down. They become something that's almost divine, something unreachable. And then...when you see them acting human, you realize how much you actually care about that person."

"Coming from you, Heiwajima-kun, it's a bit unsettling. What are you talking abo-"

"Izaya and I could have been friends if we didn't meet each other like this. No, we could have been almost brothers, the way that we end up foiling each other. But I hate him and he hates me, and that's the end of the story."

"Do you care about Orihara-kun?" Shizuo hesistated to answer that question. Instead, he picked out a weed growing through the cracks of the concrete on the roof, and he snapped it in half.

"No."

"Then why-"

"Izuko-sempai, why did you pick me as a partner?"

"Well, you see, I waited for the crowd to clear when we were picking folders, and they left you and Orihara-kun-"

"Figures. They all hate us."

"...and I didn't want Orihara-kun as partner. I don't have a very good history with him, I must admit. The first thing he did when we first met was hold out his hand and spell out a lot of information about me."******  
**

"Sounds like him," Shizuo retorted.

"So I picked you. Are you unhappy about it?"

"No. I just think you've made a mistake."

"I wasn't the one who wanted this!"

"Do you know why the administration made this...remediation group?" I thought back to what Benjirou had said about stopping the fights that went on, and about how we would be considered heroes.

"Watanabe-kun and I would be heroes."

"Wrong," Shizuo seemed to be holding back some other sort of pent-up emotion in himself. I watched him as he stood up and faced me - when he wasn't slouching, he was about a head taller than I was. No wonder everyone thought he was intimidating. "You would be anything but heroes."

I'm getting told off by the same sophomore that I'm supposed to be helping.

"You want me to kill Izaya, or at least get him out of your life, isn't that right?"

"How-"

"And Izaya wants nothing but to get in the way of your happiness...or whatever content life you have as a Raira student. It's the truth."

"How are you so sure?"

"Like I said, everyone hates us. You should've gone with Izaya, then he wouldn't have you so caught up in his crosshairs."

"That's probably what the administration wants; to get rid of us. They just don't want to do it themselves. Or at least, that's what I guess."

"What should I do?"

"Sit back and watch everything crumble," Shizuo made his way towards me, grazing my shoulder, "think about it. Please excuse me." He shut the door that led towards the roof, and left me standing in the wind, wondering just how much fate I could truly control at my hands.


End file.
